Neoliberal discourses and ethnonormative regime in post-recognition Peru: redefining hierarchies and identities

ABSTRACT

This article analyses the impact of ‘recognition’ of cultural and ethnic diversity in Peru. It proposes that the rise of a new global ‘ethnonormativity’ – a regime to define and administrate cultural and identity differences, to establish boundaries between those who ‘are’ ethnic and those who are not, and to set rights and duties derived from identities – has had meagre effects in Peru. While the past decades have witnessed the emergence of Latin American political actors who regard indigenousness as their basic political identity, there has been no ‘emergence of indigenous movements’ in Peru. The discourses that highlight the importance of diversity have gained terrain – unsettling, to a certain extent, the narratives of assimilation through ‘development’ and mestizaje – and the Peruvian state has officially embraced ‘recognition’, including it in its official rhetoric and creating institutions to design policies to guarantee the rights of the indigenous and Afroperuvian ‘peoples’ (itself a label part of the language of multiculturalism). The state has also crafted a definition of ‘indigenous peoples’ and introduced ethnic variables in censuses and official statistics, thus being active in the production and regulation of subjects. Some civil society actors have also incorporated ethnic labels into their rhetoric to adapt to the global turn to identity politics. Peru remains, however, a fertile terrain for neoliberal policies and discourses of a different kind. A discourse that exalts ‘emprendedurismo’ (entrepreneurship) and states that success depends entirely on personal effort has become a new common sense, obscuring the structural inequality that has historically affected indigenous and Afroperuvian people. Extractivism continues to damage the environment and the rights of indigenous people, while the expansion of agribusiness in the coastal valleys of Peru keeps people – regardless of their ‘ethnic’ self-identification – in poverty and without basic labour and social rights. The article suggests that the ambiguities of the ethnonormative regime in Peru may serve as a diversion from structural issues in a context of neoliberalism and may re-elaborate racial hierarchies, racism and the narratives of mestizaje it allegedly opposes.     

‘Class’, ‘Race’ and Language: imagining China and the discourse on the category ‘Han’ in the writing of Marxist revolutionary Qu Qiubai (1899–1935)

This study investigates the discursive peregrinations of the ‘Han’ category in the writings of the Chinese revolutionary, theoretician and activist Qu Qiubai. In the papers he wrote at the beginning of the 1930s dealing with the questions of language and writing, the author made singular use of the concept ‘Han’ to talk about the language/writing of the ‘Han’ (Hanzi, Hanyu) as a racial or ethnic group (Hanzu). Qu elaborated a discourse which articulated and mobilized, sometimes in a contradictory manner, the ‘Han’ category both as a ‘race’ and as a social class. Going beyond the race/class dialectic, I will try to show that these texts question the territorial, cultural and ethnic boundaries of ‘China’ and its homogeneity. Following this argument, this paper demonstrates how Qu's attempt to define ‘Chinese language(s)’ helps us to elucidate the complex articulation between China as a discursive and spatial category, the ‘Han’ category, and the other nationalities in the Chinese space. By questioning the homogeneity of the linguistic identity of China, using the word zhongguohua, Qu Qiubai unveiled an unstable and fragile imaginary relative to China and its so-called majority ethnic group, the Han.     

A discourse of civilization/culture and nation/ethnicity from the perspective of inner Mongolia,China

After tracking the Chinese historical trajectory on the discursive relationship between Chinese civilization and the northern nomadic group, this paper examines the official discursive construction of the ‘civilization’ and ‘culture’ of ethnic minorities in contemporary China. Through the analysis of the Grassland Culture Research Project (caoyuanwenhua yanjiu xiangmu), an official project conducted in China in recent decades in response to the emergence of nomadic civilization studies as a distinct academic field, this article aims to show the way in which the concepts of civilization and culture are utilized in order to correspond to the official discourse of nation state and ethnicity in China, and the process by which Mongolian culture is thereby transformed. Civilization as a larger body supposed to include cultures was/is entitled to Chinese nation (zhonghua minzu), and a culture (wenhua) of a certain ethnic minority could only be a part of the Chinese civilization in Chinese academia today. ‘Grassland culture ’ is defined as a culture that is static, ahistorical, and therefore has to be reframed within the larger system of Chinese civilization. The concept of ‘grassland culture’ seems to be based more on the particular territory, rather than on the types of culture that have created and are owned by different ethnic groups. Therefore, it might be concluded that the project emphasized the geo-body of the Chinese nation state in order to retain the culture within the territory of China.     

Oppositional consciousness,cultural preservation,and everyday resistance on the Uyghur Internet

The Internet has potential as a tool for propagation of minority cultures and identities. As China is a multi-ethnic, multilingual society, people of varying cultural backgrounds and across the Chinese diaspora may be found participating in Chinese language sites. However, little attention has been paid to the separate online activity among any of China’s 55 officially recognized ethnic minority groups, such as the Uyghurs, especially in their native languages. In this paper, we consider in what ways digital media such as interactive online community forums (UY: munbar) may be used by one ethnic group, Uyghurs, as a means of mobilizing their community to preserve their culture and support their community. As the majority ethnic group within a region of China noted as among China’s most politically sensitive, Uyghur use of computer-mediated communication provides a rich source of study.     

Bi-Cultural Socialization and Ethnic Identity in Daughters Adopted from China

Abstract

To varying degrees, parents who adopt children from China attempt to bring Chinese people, language, and culture into daily life as a way to help their adopted children feel proud about their ethnic heritage. Do attempts to provide bi-cultural socialization really influence ethnic identity? And, if so, what are the costs and benefits? In this article we draw on a longitudinal study of families with children adopted from China to describe their pre-teen and teenage daughters' orientations toward Chinese identity. The results indicate that Chinese ethnicity is an important component of adolescent identity for many adoptees, and that the odds of its being important are directly related to bi-cultural socialization influences within and outside of the family. Chinese ethnic identity does not appear to compromise the importance of American identity or closeness with family members who are not of Chinese descent. However, it does have the potential to magnify feelings of loss of birth parents and distress associated with pre-adoption histories in China.     

Young bisexual people’s experiences of microaggression: Implications for social work

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on negative identity experiences reported by young bisexual people in a 28-day daily study, and the implications of these experiences for social work practice. Participants ranged in age from 18–30 years, had Internet access, could read and write in English, and identified as bisexual or felt the label applied to them. Participants who completed at least one diary entry (n = 91) included 49 women, 30 men, and seven genderqueer people. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach, data were organized according to the social ecological model. Erasure, stereotyping, and oppressive discourse microaggressions occurred at both the institutional and interpersonal levels. The majority of reported microaggressions occurred at the interpersonal level, with erasure and stereotyping being most common. Participants also reported three types of intrapersonal microaggressions: internalized oppressions, internalized stereotypes, and ambivalence about coming out. Findings can inform social workers’ efforts to increase their capacity to support bisexual people.     

‘Don’t discriminate against minority nationalities’: practicing Tibetan ethnicity on social media

Through an analysis of popular posts Tibetans shared over the social media application WeChat in 2013 and 2014 and offline discussions about them, this paper shows how Tibetans living in and traveling through Xining City practiced and performed their ethnic identity in the face of perceived harassment. Through their viral posts, they created a cyber-community that contributed to Tibetan ethnic group formation when Tibetans interpreted their ethnic identity as the basis for unjust treatment by the Chinese state and private Han individuals. In online posts the Han are portrayed as harassing Tibetans after terror attacks across China, violating minzu rights, denigrating Tibetan culture and territory, and denying Tibetans equal footing as modern compatriots. Social media are changing the ‘representational politics’ of Tibetan ethnicity, altering participation in the representation of the Tibetan ethnic group. Still, online discourse remains subject to constraints; private offline discussions remain important fora of opinion exchange.     

‘Civilising’ Deaf people in Tibet and Inner Mongolia: governing linguistic,ethnic and bodily difference in China

The People’s Republic of China is home to over 20 million d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing people, many among them belonging to ethnic minorities. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in two minority regions, the Tibet Autonomous Region and the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, this article comparatively discusses findings on sign language use, education and state welfare policies. The situation in these domains is analysed through the framework of the ‘civilising project’, coined by Harrell, and its impacts on the d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing among ethnic minorities are shown. For instance, through the promotion of Chinese and Chinese Sign Language over and above the use of local sign and written languages as well as through education and the medicalisation of disabilities.     

Indonesian Chinese in Hong Kong: re-migration,re-establishment of livelihood and belonging

This paper describes the re-migration and adjustment of Indonesian Chinese to living in Hong Kong and their cultural belonging to Hong Kong, China, and Indonesia. Known in China as guiqiao or ‘Returned Overseas Chinese’, these were Chinese who re-migrated from Indonesia to mainland China in the 1950s and 1960s. By the early 1970s, many were allowed to migrate to Hong Kong. Although arriving with very little money, many have succeeded in establishing a fairly good life in Hong Kong, although there are also many who survive on low incomes. This paper discusses the experiences of the Indonesian Chinese in relation to local and transnational belonging, the perception of homelands, and the re-establishment of a Southeast Asian lifestyle in Hong Kong.     

Assessment of an e-training tool for college students to improve accuracy and reduce effort associated with reading nutrition labels

Objective: Nutrition labels are often underutilized due to the time and effort required to read them. We investigated the impact of label-reading training on effort, as well as accuracy and motivation. Participants: Eighty college students (21 men and 59 women). Methods: The training consisted of a background tutorial on nutrition followed by three blocks of practice reading labels to decide which of two foods was the relatively better choice. Label-reading effort was assessed using an eye tracker and motivation was assessed using a 6-item scale of healthy food-choice empowerment. Results: Students showed increases in label-reading accuracy, decreases in label-reading effort, and increases in empowerment. Conclusions: The nutrition label e-training tool presented here, whether used alone or as part of other wellness and health programs, may be an effective way to boost students’ label-reading skills and healthy food choices, before they settle into grocery shopping habits.     

Crafting places through mobility: Chinese American “roots‐searching” in China

A cultural heritage tour to China that is jointly sponsored by Chinese American organizations and the People's Republic of China government represents the “forging” (Schein 1998) of a transnational relationship between Chinese Americans and China through which Chinese Americans re‐assess their identities. Multicultural discourses in the United States and mainland Chinese government narratives of modernity produce racialized and territorialized ideas of Chineseness that forcibly attach Chinese American identities to their places of ancestral origin in China. In contrast, the Chinese American participants in this program draw from cultural and historical references formed through their experiences in the United States and use their privileges of mobility to experience their ancestral places in China in ways that draw upon multiple understandings of their relationships to China as a place. Their visits reflect transnational processes that are built upon yet qualitatively differ from those of previous generations.     

Ai Weiwei’s Fairytale: a unique social engagement

Abstract

Art as a social engagement in the West can be dated back to the history of avant-garde art starting from the end of nineteenth century. Rooted in his own cultural background, Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s socially engaged art project “Fairytale is more complex than the avant-garde strategy. The work Fairytale established a structure – “1=1,001”. That means on the one hand, the participants can be easily regarded everywhere in Kassel as 1,001 mobile works of art. All of them contribute to an entire work. In other words, the 1,001 people consist of one work. On the other hand, everyone is dealing with their personal issues independent of art. In this sense, the entire work can be divided into 1,001 personal experiences. This structure is based on three principles of Chinese philosophy Taoism – the duality between Yin and Yang, the dynamism between Yin and Yang, and the concept of “uselessness”. Positioning Fairytale within both Western theoretical as well as Chinese philosophical contexts, this essay is to analyze how Chinese philosophy shaped Ai’s strategy of social engagement and his cultural identity – Chineseness.     

The Use of Nutritional Labels by College Students in a Food-Court Setting

Objective: Between January and September 2006, the authors examined when, why, if, and how nutrition labels impact food purchase decisions of college students. Participants: Participants were 16 college-aged students at a large northeastern university. Methods: As part of a larger study undertaken at a large northeastern university on the effect of nutrition labels in restaurant settings on food purchases, the authors held a focus group to look more deeply at when and why nutrition labeling impacted college student food purchases. Results: Although results of the large study are still being discerned, the focus group results reveal that college women and men were interested in the provision of nutrition labels in the food court-like setting found at the university, and that those exposed to labels over the course of the study noticed these labels and often referred to them when making purchase decisions. Additional findings reveal that price and convenience also play a role in food purchases and that, of those items listed on each label, calories and fat were most important to the study population. Conclusions: Although more research is needed, this qualitative study finds that students want nutrition labels and would use them to make food purchasing decisions.     

Buddhist extremism,anti-Muslim violence and civil war legacies in Sri Lanka

ABSTRACT

A post-civil war country may cease military activity, but the social rupture impacts political discourse and ethnic relations, and can lead to collective violence against minorities. Sri Lanka has witnessed multiple examples of anti-Muslim sentiment and violence since the civil war termination, most infamously in 2014 when ethnic riots affected large numbers of people. Buddhist monks appeared to play a prominent role. The lengthy war and ethnonationalist ideologies have produced politico-religious shifts associated with ‘Buddhist extremism’, implicated in these riots and other aggressions. This paper uses interview data to explore the question: what causal mechanisms link post-civil war and extremist ideologies, and how this can lead to ethnic rioting. Interview respondents argue that promoting a monolithic national identity in a heterogeneous country enhances divisions, which can be politically expedient. An outright war victory, militarization of society and lack of peacebuilding sustain ethnic tensions that can be mobilized for further anti-minority violence.     

Young people's reproductions of the ‘father as provider’ discourse: intersections of race,class, culture and gender within a liberal democracy

ABSTRACT

Despite a plurality of paternal forms available to men, certain enactments of fathering remain immobile. In South Africa the ‘father as provider’ discourse, which establishes the legitimate father as one who provides financially for his family, continues to be regarded as the primary mark of a good father. Using photo-elicitation interviews to interrogate the persistence of this discourse, this paper examines how adolescents from two low-resourced South African communities construct fathering. Using a critical intersectional discursive framework, the analysis focuses on how gender, race, class and culture are implicated in the reproduction of the ‘father as provider’ discourse. Participants’ constructions suggest that the father’s duty to provide is intensified within marginalised contexts. Central to participants’ reproductions of the ‘father as provider’ discourse was a neoliberal conception of ‘freedom of choice’. The paper concludes that South Africa’s post-apartheid reliance on discourses around liberal democracy has cast the low-income father’s ability to fulfil the provider role as a conscious choice. While the father is made responsible for his failure to provide, broader structural oppressions are in turn rendered largely invisible by such discourse.     

Language,Violence, and Queer People

Summary

The lives of queer people are too frequently filled with violence—physical attacks, social discrimination, and hate-filled verbal assaults. Language serves multiple purposes in the violence that is directed at queers. While the words themselves become instruments of psychological harm, they, in turn, are used to rationalize or justify acts of physical violence and social discrimination (Pierce, 1990). To analyze the issues regarding queer people, social discourse, and violence, this essay addresses: communication rules about queers and a formula for change in the discourse; the history of changing labels and meaning; enforcers of the dominant discourse and its rules of communication; and the role social workers should play in challenging and shaping the discourse.     

(Un)becoming Dayak: Intermarriage and the Dynamics of Identity and Belonging in East Kalimantan

Much of the ethnographic literature on East Kalimantan has assumed relatively stable group identities. Intermarriage between different Dayak groups has been frequent, but is usually perceived as leading to swift cultural assimilation of the in-marrying party. Similarly, Dayak-Malay intermarriages have been understood in terms of socio-religious assimilation (masuk Islam). This article suggests that a number of socio-historical developments, including Christian mission work, the spread of formal education and recent advances in regional political autonomy, have resulted in high cultural adaptability among East Kalimantan's ‘Dayaks’, leading to hybrid identity formation. Simultaneously, people of mixed ancestry are confronted with ethno-nationalist revitalisation and often face a problematic lack of belonging, challenging them to become—or un-become—‘Dayak’. This article explores the marital histories and social networks of two extended families in the urban and semi-urban centres of the province. It suggests that children of mixed parentage have cultivated various modes of adaptation to the expectations of Dayak indigenism, often involving the strategic invocation of essentialised ethnic labels (suku).     

Between Two Worlds: Slovak Language and American Identity in Out of This Furnace

Abstract

Thomas Bell’s 1941 novel Out of This Furnace, a fictionalized account of his family’s immigration from eastern Slovakia to industrial Pittsburgh, is a significant example of the use of ‘mixed languages’ in ethnic American literature. It was translated from English into Slovak in 1949 as Dva svety (Two Worlds). The novel has bridged the gap between Slovak and American culture in the three ways explored here: Bell’s use of Slovak dialect, the Slovak translation, and two dramatic adaptations from the 1970s (an American play and a Slovak televised film). This case illuminates the complex relationship between ethnic American writers and their lands of origin, particularly in the case of less commonly spoken languages.